LABOR DEPARTMENT Worker deaths rise; Hispanics have highest rate

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Workplace fatalities in the United States rose slightly to 5,559 last year, with the highest number of deaths in the construction and transportation industries.
Hispanic workers continued to have the highest on-the-job death rate, the Labor Department said.
In 2002, 5,534 people died on the job -- the lowest total since the survey began in 1992.
The death rate came to four deaths a year per 100,000 workers in 2002 and 2003.
"American workers remain safer than they were just a few years ago," said John Henshaw, assistant labor secretary for Occupational Safety and Health.
The construction industry had the most deaths -- 1,126, followed by 805 deaths in the transportation and warehousing sector.
When the number of workers in each industry was considered, the highest death rate was in the sector of agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, with 31.2 deaths per 100,000 workers. Mining was next, with a rate of 26.9 per 100,000 workers. Construction's rate was 11.7, and transportation and warehousing's was 17.5.
The most frequent work-related deaths were on highways -- 1,350 last year, compared with 1,373 in 2002.
Some 861 truck drivers died on the job last year, more than in any occupation. But logging workers had the highest death rate, with 131.6 per 100,000. Pilots and flight engineers were second, with a rate of 97.4 deaths. The rate for truck drivers was 26.7.
"Transportation is a dangerous job," said Bret Caldwell, spokesman for the Teamsters union.